Diocesan Assembly 2010 – Presidential Address
Diocesan Assembly 2010
Presidential Address of Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius
Today, we have gathered in this august meeting of our Diocesan Assembly of the Diocese of North America and Europe here at Atlanta MTC. We have come here representing the various parishes in Europe, Canada, and United States of America. As clergy and laity, we are now in the presence of God who blesses us and strengthens us for the ministry. The Holy Bible reminds us in Psalms 95:7 that, “… For He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the people under his care.” We look up to God to praise Him for all the blessings we receive as a diocese and to seek His direction as we move forward. We are His people, called out and sanctified, not only to reap the benefits of being in His pasture and in His care but also to work for Him obediently and relentlessly.
This assembly is taking place soon after the Holy week. Our meditations on the cross of Christ enable us to understand Jesus Christ as King, Lord, and Messiah. Easter reminds us not only of the resurrection of Jesus but also of the resurrection He imparts to us all. The power of resurrection enabled the early disciples to come out of their fear and anxiety and move out to the people and the nations. They witnessed the resurrected Lord and revealed how the power of resurrection can bring out the hidden potential in every creature. Today, when we look back at the activities of the Diocese during the year 2009 we must be satisfied that we have accomplished a lot. However, we must not be complacent but feel even more that God wants greater things to be done in and through us not only in 2010 but also in the new decade and years to follow. The church of Jesus Christ is firm upon the rock of faith and gates of Hell will not overcome it. (Mathew 16:18)
The year 2009 was a blessed and joyous year for the Diocese. The Lord strengthened me to visit almost all the parishes in the Diocese to worship with the people and to study the Word of God. Ministering with the clergy and laity continues to be a blessing for me. The members of the Diocesan Council and Assembly enthusiastically participated in the administration of the Diocese. Wherever I went, I experienced the selfless love and care of our members. God has formed us as a community, body of Christ, and we gather at various places for worship using the same liturgy. The liturgical worship unites us. We are called for community living. This is possible only when we realize that we are bound by the love of God revealed in Christ and we grow by mutual love and care. We are God’s people. I Peter 2:9-10.
One of the challenges we faced in 2009 was to listen to the young members of our Church. We had a series of dialogues arranged with the help of the Planning board and some of the local parishes to meet with the young groups and young couples at various places and on different occasions. This helped the Diocese to identify their general concerns and then to propose ways and means of meeting those needs along with strengthening the parish and youth ministry. The findings are given on our website, made available to the parishes and published in the Mar Thoma Messenger. All this will bear fruit only when we as a community with one mind and accord start implementing them one by one.
I have been hearing about our liturgy from the day of my arrival. At first, the study on the liturgy of the Holy Qurbana was made available through the ‘slides and slide notes’. Later on, at the recommendation of this Diocesan Assembly, we made a DVD and our parishes are now using these materials. In addition, we are preparing a number of DVDs to have effective ways of teaching and learning through electronic media. The topics include the Holy Bible, Liturgy, Faith and Practices of the Church. These DVDs are in the formative stages and therefore all those who can help are welcome to improve our efforts and make them relevant and useful. These materials, when available, can be used in our parishes and various organizations for teaching and learning. They will be more useful for the LEAD classes, first communicants and for the senior Sunday School classes. Once it is found useful in our Diocese, and I am certain that it will be, we can extend it for the use in our worldwide Church.
There is a significant need to recognize the concerns of the elderly people who gave their time, talents and money for the growth of the church here in USA, Canada and Europe. They also enabled their children to grow as citizens of this country and reach reasonably good positions. All of us owe a lot to them. Our expressions of gratitude need to bear meaningful and respectful ministry among them. In this regard, we should consider having centers of assisted living. This is an area that the Diocesan Assembly and the Diocesan Council will have to look into, to study and submit their proposal for implementation.
Today we will be looking at the report and the accounts of the Diocese for the year 2009. Let us be grateful for our people in the parishes, in the administrative roles of our organizations, sub-committees and the Diocesan Council. All the activities of the Diocese are possible by the participation of the people and their financial support.
The immigration department in the U.S and Canada and the border agency in U.K. have recognized the credibility of our administrative set up and continue to help us in getting the Visa for our clergy in places wherever we need them. All of us need to be vigilant in maintaining all these requirements and updating all the records, both at the local and national levels. When we understand and abide by the State and Federal laws of each country, there will be smooth process of the administration. This is not to water down our loyalty to the church but to assume the responsibilities of the church that people have in each place. Vigilance is the price of liberty.
Giving is a virtue. We speak about tithing in the context of the Bible. The parable of the Good Samaritan, the widow whom Jesus pointed out, the words of Zaccheaus – all help us to understand that giving has to transcend all counts regarding the benefits one derives out of giving. The general policy of our church even today is ‘voluntary giving’. This is not to let anyone abstain from giving or to remove the membership of any member but to help take the responsibility to meet the needs of the less fortunate people within the parish. As Christians, we also share and support the responsibilities of our fellow members. The Church is a sharing and caring community. The very fact that we are considered a charitable organization is not to exploit the provision of income-tax exemption but to realize that the government recognizes our giving. We must not give for the benefit of the donors themselves. Instead, our giving should be in return for the services we receive and for putting more life into other people. ‘The income-tax receipt’ should not stop anyone, young or old, male or female from participating in the general offertory of our worship services. Participation of each person in the offertory is to be understood as a symbol of offering oneself into the hands of the creator God, who created us and continues to give all that we need in our lives. THE ONE, WHO SEES, SEES OUR GIVING WITH ITS SPIRIT AND INTENTIONS.
It is not proper to use the earmarked funds for any other purpose. We all need spiritual discipline even in economic matters. Once recognized by our Episcopal Synod, all the parishes have to grow in the discipline of the church, meeting the requirements of the country and following the practices meant for the worldwide church. It is disturbing to hear that some of the parishes collect all the earmarked Sunday collections as onetime payment by circulating an envelope annually and distributing the amounts. Some groups once followed these practices while they were smaller fellowship groups or congregations. It should not be the practice of a recognized parish. To be more specific, all the parishes in the Diocese have to give the entire offertory collected on Palm Sunday, through the envelope or otherwise for the earmarked collection meant for our Theological Seminary. All parishes should follow this practice of giving the entire offertory collection for the specified Sunday’s cause.
We live in an electronic era. We do many things electronically. People call this a paperless revolution. However, we are not yet come to the level of getting rid of all hard copies. All the parishes are reminded to keep hard copies of all minutes, reports and accounts, bound together year wise. It is also necessary to keep the valuables in lockers and to keep the records in the office of each parish. Office bearers of each parish or any other person are not allowed to remove the documents, records and money from the parish office to keep in their homes.
The Sunday offertories are to be counted in public by more than one person and recorded in the registers including the worship register. The Vicar must be informed about each Sunday’s collections and other money transactions. If not marked separately, both the cash and checks coming into the offertory bag/plate is an income for the same offertory to which it is earmarked.
We have classified the mission activities of the Diocese into four: (1) Mission in India, (2) Mission in Mexico, (3) Mission to Native Americans, and (4) the Neighborhood Mission. (Acts 1:8). I want each parish to look specifically into their relevant mission in the neighborhood and budget an amount for it each year. Identifying, ‘Christ in Action’ in your neighborhood in the lives of the least, the last and the lost is the mission of the local parish. It is in that manner that our parish becomes the salt of the earth and light of the world. Here the significance is not on the amounts that are spent, but on the involvement of the members of the parish in the incarnational ministry. We participate with the mission of Christ by adding life to the people among whom we live and work thereby making it true that Christ is present not only to give bread but also to give life and abundance of life, John 10:10.
I welcome initiatives from parishes in Canada to have an outreach ministry in that country in place of Mexico mission and likewise from the parishes in Europe. Until something materializes, we must work together for the cause of Mexico mission.
Let us all rejoice where the heavens rejoice. God bless all of us and ministry of the Diocese.
